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Please carry on all conversations without shouting, excessive ranting, or crudity. Profanity and personal attacks will not be tolerated. I am delighted to have you in my house - well, on my blog, anyway - and look forward to discussions. But please remember that we are all trying to carry on a civilized discussion. Your views are valuable. Please treat them that way. Thank you.

Mystery Publishers

Felony & MayhemThis publisher specializes in classic mysteries, broadly defined, including newer mysteries that adhere to classic standards. They have just overhauled their website to make it much more informative and user-friendly.

Merion PressThe Merion Press is an independent publisher of out-of-print works that were originally published over 75 years ago, but are enduring even today.

Mystery GuildThis book club mostly publishes current thrillers, spy and horror stories, etc., but has a few "lost classics" by the likes of Ellery Queen and John Dickson Carr. As such, it may be worth your attention. Be warned though that it's a "negative option" club - if you join, you have to reply to each offer every few weeks to keep them from being sent to you.

Crippen & LandruCrippen & Landru publish mystery short story collections. Of particular interest is what they call "Lost Classics," a series of anthologies of mostly uncollected stories by authors who might be enjoyed by a new generation of readers.

Poisoned Pen PressBased in Scottsdale, Arizona, the Poisoned Pen Press publishes a fairly wide variety of mysteries. Some are reprints; many are new, by newer authors. Their website has a great deal of information about their books and authors.

Academy Chicago PublishersA number of interesting authors, most long out of print, plus some other odds and ends, including some horror stories by Conan Doyle.

Langtail PressA fairly new Print On Demand publisher specializing mostly in classic mysteries. The managing director, James Prichard is the great-grandson of Agatha Christie, and his lineage shows. Authors include John Dickson Carr, Ellery Queen, Anthony Berkeley, and Freeman Wills Crofts, among others. Many are also published as ebooks for the Amazon Kindle.

Mysterious PressThe brainchild of editor/anthologist/author/bookstore-owner Otto Penzler, the Mysterious Press has recently returned to life as an electronic book publisher. It is already republishing the work of a lot of classic authors, with more books on the way.

Ostara Publishing"Ostara Publishing re-issues titles that have unjustifiably become unavailable either through the ravages of time or the forces of publishing economics. We specialise in Crime and Thriller fiction titles and our range goes from the1920s through to the 21st century. We publish thematically and currently have six series available. All our titles are published in a 'trade paperback' format and printed to order."

Locked Room InternationalA small press, specializing in very good English-language translations of (so far) mostly-French authors of locked room and impossible crime stories. They publish in Print-On-Demand and electronic editions.

Oleander PressThis small eclectic British publisher has begun publishing a series of classic British mystery novels, primarily from the Golden Age. The series is grouped into a section of their catalogue named "London Bound," as the books are set in London.

Oconee Spirit PressA small, independent publisher committed to publishing "lively fiction, and provocative non-fiction." Most of their list covers early works by established authors writing traditional mysteries, such as Carolyn Hart and Margaret Maron.

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I am an Amazon Associate

That means that if you order anything from Amazon through a link from my site or the search box on my page, I get a small commission. As a result, I'd consider it a favor if you would consider making your purchases through my links. As always, though, if you have a local mystery book store, I encourage you to use them as your first choice. For anything else... Thank you.

September 10, 2012

"Death Leaves No Card"

If it was a case of murder, it was a case with remarkably few clues. When members of the Maplewood family and their servants broke down the bathroom door, they found the body of Basil Maplewood, who apparently died while getting into his bath. Certainly there was nobody else in the locked bathroom. And yet there was no indication at all of how the young man might have died. Even the post-mortem didn't come up with a likely cause of death. You'd have to say, really, that in this case, "Death Leaves No Card." Which is the title of the Golden Age mystery by Miles Burton which is the subject of today's audio review on the "Classic Mysteries" podcast. You can listen to the full review by clicking here.

"Miles Burton" was one of the pen names used by Cecil John Charles Street, who also wrote as John Rhode and Cecil Way. As Burton, he produced a long series of mysteries featuring Scotland Yard Inspector Henry Arnold and amateur investigator Desmond Merrion. Merrion is absent from "Death Leaves No Card," and Arnold has the field to himself in this very enjoyable locked room/impossible crime mystery from 1939.

As I said earlier, the victim was found alone inside the locked bathroom. He had not drowned. He had not been poisoned. There were no marks of violence on the body. He was, physically, in good health. So how did he die? And why? And who did it? Let me warn you: readers may think they have some pretty good ideas on the subject - but are likely to find that Burton has quite skillfully misled them.

"Death Leaves No Card," in other words, is an excellent traditional mystery, and the "howdunit" is every bit as important as the "whodunit" element. Inspector Arnold, even without his usual cohort, Desmond Merrion, is no slouch and connects the dots quite thoroughly to reveal a pattern that is likely to surprise the reader.

One note on editions: "Death Leaves No Card" is in print, or, to be accurate, print-on-demand, from Ramble House. The Amazon links above will tell you that only a hardcover edition is available. Not so. If you're interested in the trade paperback edition, you can use this link to find and order it directly from Ramble House.

Comments

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Les - What a great choice for your focus! And I'm embarrassed to admit that I didn't connect Cecil Way to Miles Burton until just now. Yes I definitely must look this one up as it's such a prime example of the traditional "impossible" crime. Sometimes the "howdunit" can be really interesting... :-)

Margot, most of my favorites are so-called impossible crime mysteries, particularly the ones that provide fair (but generally well-disguised) clues for the reader. I think this one is quite fair - and really entertaining.